66 Main Street South, Brampton, Ontario L6W 2C6
Telephone: 905-451 - 1020 Fax: 905-451-0161
MARCH 2014
Principal:
P. Roul
Secretary:
A. Magalhaes
Council Chair:
Jim Doran
Superintendent:
Sue Steer
(905) 890-1221
Trustee: Ward 3
Anna Podesta– da
Silva
(905) 890-1221
(905) 706-5679
Parish: St. Mary
Catholic Church
66A Main Street, South
Brampton, Ontario L6W
2C6 (905) 451 - 2300
Fr. Liborio Amaral,
Pastor
Fr. Vargas Lara
(Associate Pastor)
Fr. Augstine Chan
(Associate Pastor)
WEBSITE:
www.dpcdsb.org
Then go to Elementary
Schools and click on St.
Mary Catholic School
REFLECTION
Good and Gracious God, you call your people back to
you this Lent. May this sacred season renew our
desire to live fully the promises of our baptism and to
love you with a whole heart. Through more frequent
prayer, acts of charity, and fasting, may we remember
that loving you and one another is the most important
thing we can do. In confidence, we ask these things
through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
Celebrating our Faith
Lent is a special time when you can share the
concepts of prayer and giving with your children.
We invite children to live simple acts of giving,
and prayer to get them started on their spiritual
path and to learn to be faith-centred.
Consider taking family time each day to offer
devotional prayers. As a family reflect on how
you might help others in need by giving of your
time or resources. The emphasis should be on
doing things for Jesus, rather than simply on
giving things up.
May the Holy Spirit bless you and your family
during this Lenten season.
VIRTUE OF KINDNESS
Virtue of the Month—Kindness
This month we celebrate the virtue of Kindness.
God wants us to be kind to everyone we meet.
Kindness can only be seen through actions. It’s
not enough to say I will be kind or I am kind.
We must show that we are kind by our words
and our actions.
Through prayer and concentration, we can get
better at showing kindness to everyone we meet.
A Kind Person…
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Says nice things about others so they
feel good about themselves
Sticks up for people who are picked
on or need help
Refuses to join others who are
insulting, intimidating, mean or
hurtful
Watches and looks for ways to help
those in need
EQAO UPDATE
This year the EQAO assessment will take place
between May 26th and June 6th for students in
grade 3 and grade 6. Kindly avoid booking
dental, doctor appointments or vacations
during this time. The actual test will take three
days to administer. For further information visit
DPCDSB on the web for Board and School
profiles: http://www.dpcdsb.org/EQAO
IMPORTANT IMMUNIZATION message
from the Peel Public Health
Peel Public Health will be reviewing
immunization records of all students at our
school from January 2013. Peel Public Health
must have proof that your child has been fully
vaccinated (immunized) according to the Ontario
immunization schedule. If you receive a letter,
please ensure that your child has received the
required vaccine (s), then give the date (s) your
child received these vaccine dose (s) to Peel
Public Health immediately to update your child’s
record. For more information, please call Peel
Public Health at 905-799-7700 or visit www.
ImmunizePeel.ca Translation services are
available
PINK SHIRT DAY
A big round of applause to all of our grade 7
students for their leadership roles in all of our
Pink Shirt Day initiatives. Although Pink Shirt
Day was officially Wednesday, February 26,
2014, the grade 7 students developed and
delivered class-specific lessons on bullying
awareness. Small groups of grade 7s visited
individual classes and presented their lessons on
Monday, February 24. Each lesson also
included a Behaviour Contract, in which all
participating students signed and received a pink
Rainbow Loom bracelet. We also wish to thank
Carrie Percival for her 3 BRAVE presentations
on Tuesday, February 25. On Pink Shirt Day,
the whole school participated in a game of Bully
Bingo, created by a group of grade 7 students.
One winner from each classroom received an
official Pink Shirt Day T-Shirt. The winners
were: Max, Neveah, Jtavia, Deng, Chelsea,
Tatiana, Veronica, Tamara, Josiah, and Olivia.
Congratulations to all who played. The
afternoon concluded with an assembly/rally
prepared and delivered by grade 7 students. It
was a wonderful afternoon for the St Mary
Community to Stand Up to bullying. The last of
the activities had grade 7 students visit gym
classes throughout the week. They introduced
and played games such as Simon Says,
Compliment Tag and Bully Hunt to further
enhance our message that we will not tolerate
bullying at St Mary School.
Snuggle Up and Read/Pajama Day
On Friday, February 28, students, staff, volunteers,
and guest readers wore pajamas and robes to
school, and all classes visited the library for a story,
hot chocolate and cookies.
Thanks to our
volunteers who made hot chocolate and served the
hot chocolate and cookies, and our guest readers,
this wonderful celebration of literacy was a great
success! Our volunteers included: E. Annis, M.
Birmingham, J. Cabral, R. Croteau, and C.
Sevigny, and our readers were: S. Steer, A.
DaSilva, P. Roul, M. Birmingham, J. Francis, L.
Levy, A. Magalhaes, and T. Yurichuk.
STUDENT SUPERVISION TIMES….
We still have students arriving at the school prior
to supervision time. Please note that teachers are
on supervision duty 15 minutes before the start of
the school day. For safety reasons we ask that
you
DO NOT drop your child off at the
school prior to 8:15 a.m. Students are not
allowed in the school prior to 8:15 a.m. or after
3:00 p.m. unless they are under the direct
supervision of a teacher.
SNOW AND ICE…
Now that the cold months have arrived and snow
and ice are plentiful, a reminder of our
safety policy is warranted. Throwing snowballs
and sliding on ice are NOT allowed. We have had
several injuries this past month simply because
these rules are not being followed.
As much fun as snow and ice are, they can
also be very dangerous when there are many people
in one area. Most student injuries happen during
the winter months. In order for our school to be as
safe as possible, the school rule must be that snow
stays on the ground – no snowballs, kicking
snow or any other activity with snow and ice that
could be harmful. Please take a few moments to
reinforce these important safety rules with your
children.
NELSON MATH WEDSITE....
Teachers, students and parents can visit this site for
web links and other online support for Nelson
Mathematics K-8 at www.nelson.com
ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
Absences and Lates
Student safe arrival at school is our first priority.
If your child is going to be absent, PLEASE call
the school attendance line at 905-451-1020.
Leave the necessary information on the
answering service. This helps us to streamline the
morning routine and ensure quickly that our
students are safe at school or at home.
Please ensure that your child arrives to school on
time each morning. This will allow your child to
avoid missing any valuable instruction time, and
eliminate any distractions in the classroom. Late
arrivals must check in at the office before going
to class. Your cooperation will be appreciated.
Staying in for recess…Colder weather is here
again! When students are in attendance at school
they are expected to participate in all school
activities which includes recess. Therefore
students are expected to arrive at school with the
appropriate dress for weather conditions. All
children should have hats, scarves, gloves, warm
coats and boots labeled with their names.
At times, the weather conditions will not allow
students to go outside for recess. This decision
is made in accordance with the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board Policy and Peel
Public Health Cold Weather Guidelines which
direct schools to modify recesses when the
temperatures reach –20 degrees C or colder
and to keep children indoors when the
temperature reach –25 degrees C or colder.
Moreover, health officials indicate that fresh
air is beneficial, as long as students are dressed
appropriately. We obtain our
weather information from the Environment
Canada Weather Information Line and follow
Board guidelines. With the exception of these
occasions, all children will go outside for all
recesses and the lunch break.
Indoor Shoes
Winter is fast approaching! To keep students
warm and comfortable, please ensure your
child has a pair of “indoor shoes”. This is also
a safety request. In the event of a fire alarm,
all occupants must vacate the building
regardless of the weather (without time to put
on boots or outdoor shoes).
Bus Cancellations/School Closing Due To
Bad Weather
During the winter months inclement weather
may cause disruption of bus transportation and
regular school operations. A decision to cancel
school transportation and /or close schools is
usually made by 6:00 a.m. and will be announced
on various radio and television stations – please
see information below.
School Safety….
We continue to remind our students about school
safety. Students are reminded on a regular basis
that there is to be no physical contact, i.e.
pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking and punching.
What can be viewed as playing can result in
students getting hurt. We realize that in most
cases, children do not mean to hurt other
children; however, because of physical contact,
students can get seriously hurt.
Through
continuous reminders, we are trying to prevent
this from happening. We ask for your continued
support to remind your children to play with
others without physical contact.
Please Note: When buses are cancelled in the
morning the buses are cancelled for the entire
day. No buses will be picking up students after
school if buses have been cancelled earlier in
the day.
Parents and Guardians (Visitors) to the
School….
We ask all visitors (parents, guardians and
friends) to use the front entrance and check in
with the office so we can assist you. Our
students’ safety is our first concern. If you want
to drop off something for your child or pick them
up early, we ask that you go through the office so
we can call your child down. Staff is directed to
refer all visitors to the office. For safety reasons
we ask that parents not wait with their child on
the school yard. When picking up your child
after school please wait for them outside to avoid
congestion in the hallways.
VOCAL TEAM & CHOIR
The choir and vocal team continue to practice
exciting songs for assembles and masses. New
members are welcome! Practices are Thursdays
at lunches (with extra practices as we near
special events). Looking forward to meeting
some new members!
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CJCL AM590
FM93.1
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CHFI FM98.1
CJBC (FR) AM860
FM Q107
CTV
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
Next meeting Wednesday March 19th 2014.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
March 4 – Shrove Tuesday
March 5 – Ash Wednesday
March 7 – PA Day
March 10 – 14 – March Break
March 18 – The Big Gulp
March 19 – Confessions
March 19 – School Council
March 20 – Grad Photos (Grade 8 & SK)
March 21 – Intermediate students to view movie
March 25 – School Mass
April 18 – Good Friday
April 21 – Easter Monday